The present invention relates to an aircraft passenger seat and seat swivel assembly. The seat is adapted to be mounted on the deck of an aircraft seat and permit rotations of the seat when desired, relative to the aircraft. The swivel assembly design provides swiveling capability to passenger seats without increasing the overall seat height, and is particularly useful in aircraft configurations providing limited passenger headroom. The swivel design also permits seating loads to be transferred laterally directly to the seat base rails and to the aircraft seat tracks and deck.
Many private aircraft passenger seats have comfort features such as the ability to swivel the seat from side to side and slide the seat fore and aft that are not typically found in commercial passenger aircraft. Typically, swiveling seats have a seat pan that is mounted on a swivel assembly that in turn is mounted on top of laterally-extending spars that extend transversely between a pair of base rails mounted by track fittings to tracks in the aircraft deck. These seats are specifically constructed for aircraft use in compliance with FAA-mandated safety requirements. In addition to being able to swivel smoothly and comfortably, this type of seat must also be capable of being locked into a fixed position for taxi, take-off, landing and flight turbulence, and to withstand substantial, specified impact forces.
In comparison with commercial aircraft, most general aviation aircraft have smaller fuselages with less passenger headroom. For this reason, most general aviation passenger seats sit closer to the aircraft deck to provide as much headroom as is possible to the seated passenger within the design and engineering requirements of the seat. Prior art swiveling aircraft seats provide reduced headroom for the seated passenger because the swivel is mounted on top of the seat base—usually on the base spars—and thus add to the overall height of the seat above the aircraft deck.
This type of design also applies seat loading to the spars which extend transversely between the seat base rails rather than directly to the seat base rails. This is an inefficient means of transferring seating loads to the aircraft deck.